


Dawn Summers and the Case of the Secretive Sister

by regenderate



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:37:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regenderate/pseuds/regenderate
Summary: Buffy is hiding something. Dawn, in the spirit of her favorite fictional detectives, is determined to figure out what it is.(Season 3 AU in which Dawn tries out some sleuthing skills while Buffy is sneaking around with Angel. She comes to some interesting conclusions and possibly makes a new friend in the process.)





	Dawn Summers and the Case of the Secretive Sister

Buffy was never around anymore, and Dawn was tired of it. Sure, her sister had superpowers. But did that  _ really _ mean she had to miss family game night? Or forget to pick Dawn up at the junior high so they could walk home from school together? Or hang out with her new Slayer friend instead of staying home with Dawn when their mom went out so she didn’t have to have a babysitter?

Before Dawn had known that Buffy was the Slayer, she had known that Buffy was hiding something. She just hadn’t known what. And, in her defense, she had been nine years old when the whole thing had started, and nine-year-olds didn’t know  _ anything _ . But now she was twelve, and she could tell that Buffy was hiding something again, but it wasn’t superpowers this time, because she didn’t need to hide superpowers from Dawn and her mom anymore.

The thing was, one of the things that Dawn had always looked up to Buffy’s friends for was their crime-solving abilities. Every time there was a demon in the area, Buffy and her friends and her Watcher-librarian figured out what was going on and stopped it. Dawn read a lot of mystery books-- her dad had gotten her into Nancy Drew back when he had been still married to her mom-- and she had always wanted to solve a mystery. 

But Buffy wouldn’t let her help, though, no matter how much she asked. She told Dawn she was too young, but it wasn’t like Nancy Drew had been an adult or anything. It wasn’t like  _ Buffy _ was an adult or anything. So the whole thing was totally unfair, but it meant that Dawn didn’t have any real mysteries to solve, so she had to use her super-sleuth skills to solve smaller mysteries. Like what Buffy was hiding.

Dawn started by making a list of everything she knew about Buffy’s life. The list went something like this:

  * vampire slayer
  * lots of friends
  * used to be a cheerleader
  * divorced parents
  * bossy



She looked at the list, and then she crossed off “bossy,” because it was her subjective opinion and not really a fact about Buffy’s life. She looked at the list again and decided that it was her list and she could write what she want, so she rewrote “bossy.” It was true, anyway.

She thought about the items on the list for a while. The thing she could act on most easily was the friends. Xander came over to babysit sometimes when Dawn’s mom had an opening at the gallery and Buffy had to patrol, and Willow was always with Buffy when Buffy picked Dawn up at school. The last time Buffy had been hiding something, it had been the Slayer thing, and all her friends had known, so maybe this time all her friends would know too. Dawn just had to figure out how to ask them without seeming suspicious.

The opportunity presented itself the very next night, when Xander came over to babysit. Dawn usually protested when she had to have a babysitter-- she was  _ twelve _ , after all, practically a grown-up-- and she made sure to protest her usual amount tonight. She knew no amount of persuasion would get her mom to let her stay home alone. Secretly, though, she was thrilled. Alone time with Xander meant she was one step closer to figuring out what was up with Buffy. Plus, it was Xander, who was actually pretty cool. He showed up with a deck of cards in one hand and a Tootsie Roll Pop for her in the other-- “I swiped it from the office at school,” he told Dawn, “just ‘cause I knew I was coming here tonight.”

“Thanks,” Dawn said, unwrapping the candy and sticking it in her mouth. 

“Thank you,” Dawn’s mom said to Xander. She was all dressed up in her nice black dress that she always wore for big openings and adjusting her earrings as she gave her usual babysitter talk. “Remember, food is in the fridge, lights out by 9:30.”

“Sure thing,” Xander said.

Dawn rolled her eyes. She had a flashlight that no one else knew about; lights out at 9:30 only meant that she turned off the big light in the ceiling and kept reading anyway. She wandered into the living room and sat on the couch to read her book.

Xander came in a moment later.

“Whatcha reading?” he asked.

Dawn showed him the cover. It was a Nancy Drew book. She’d read it before, but of course it always withstood a second read. 

“Good stuff,” Xander said, in a tone that made it clear to Dawn that he’d never read Nancy Drew.

“Have you ever solved a mystery?” Dawn asked. “Like, a real mystery, not the demon stuff.”

“The demon stuff is pretty real,” Xander said. 

“I guess,” Dawn said. 

“We figured out who was doing spells on the cheerleaders,” Xander said.

“When?” Dawn asked. 

“A couple years ago,” Xander said. “It was right when you guys moved here.”

“Guess you were glad to have a Slayer,” Dawn said.

“Yeah,” Xander said. “Much better than when that stuff happened and I never even heard about it, huh?”

“Buffy wanted to be a cheerleader, right?” Dawn asked.

“Less so after they started being on fire,” Xander said.

“Oh.” Dawn gulped. She didn’t like thinking about people being on fire. She liked regular mysteries, where the biggest danger was the bad guy maybe having a knife or a gun or something. 

And here was her chance to ask Xander about Buffy. She didn’t want to be obvious about it, though, or else then he’d be suspicious, and Buffy would pick up on it, and then she’d figure out what Dawn was doing, and then Dawn would  _ never _ figure out what Buffy was hiding. 

So she just said, “Where do you think Buffy goes when she’s not around here?”

“Patrolling, I guess,” Xander said. “If she’s not at the Bronze partying with us. Doesn’t she tell you?”

“I’m her little sister,” Dawn said. “She doesn’t tell me  _ anything _ .”

“The tragic reality of the baby sibling,” Xander agreed. 

Dawn rolled her eyes.

“I think she’s hiding something,” she admitted. 

“She’s just busy,” Xander said. “Especially now there’s a new Slayer in town. She’s gotta train up the newbie, right?” 

“You’d think Faith being around would give her  _ less _ work,” Dawn said.

“Well, sure, eventually,” Xander said. “But Buffy’s been Slaying a lot longer. Giles wants them to train together.”

“Maybe,” Dawn said. She pretended to go back to her book, but really, she was thinking about what Xander had said. She didn’t really think that Buffy being busy with patrolling meant anything, but… maybe there was something to the whole Faith theory. But what would Buffy and Faith be hiding?

Dawn took out her notebook and made another list. This one was of things that she knew about Faith.

  * edgy
  * hot (not that I’m into her or anything, yuck!)
  * Slayer
  * lives in the motel
  * came for Christmas
  * spends a lot of time with Buffy
  * rebellious



She looked at this list. There wasn’t much on it to investigate, except the obvious “spends a lot of time with Buffy.”

Huh. 

“Spends a lot of time with Buffy.”

Her friend Janice had told her that she had an aunt who lived with her “best friend,” only Janice had gone to visit, and she’d caught them kissing.

Maybe  _ that _ was what Buffy was hiding. It made sense. Dawn didn’t think their mom would be super cool with Buffy dating another girl.

So that was a theory. And it was really the only one Dawn had, so she decided to pursue it. Specifically, she decided to pursue Buffy on her patrol. She told her mom that she was going to bed early, and then she changed into a black sweater and dark jeans, tucked her hair up into a hat, and climbed out the window. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be, and she got some dirt on her jeans before she had even really started. She hid behind a bush and waited until Faith came to pick Buffy up (flinging an arm around Buffy’s waist, Dawn noticed), and then she pulled her hat further down on her head and followed them, walking on the other side of the road, a few paces back. They went into a cemetery, and Dawn watched from behind a tree as they sat by a gravestone, talking to each other. Dawn couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she thought she could guess some of it.

A vampire clawed itself out of the grave, and Buffy slayed it. Another one attacked them, and Faith slayed that one, and then the two of them high fived.

But then-- this didn’t make any sense. Buffy and Faith were walking in different directions, like they were about to go home, but Buffy never got home this early. Dawn knew because she had trouble sleeping sometimes, and she never heard Buffy come in before midnight. She let Buffy leave, and then she crept out from behind the tree, intending to follow. 

She didn’t make it two steps before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around, suppressing a scream, but-- it was just Faith.

“Hey, kid. Thought it might be you. What’re you doing here?”

“I’m not a kid,” Dawn said, crossing her arms. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Faith said. “Still, isn’t this past your bedtime?”

“Is there something going on between you and Buffy?” Dawn asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Buffy’s hiding something, and I think it’s that the two of you are together,” Dawn said. “Like,  _ together _ .”

Faith actually laughed. Dawn almost wanted to punch her for that, but then she realized that punching a Slayer probably wouldn’t be that great of an idea.

“Nah,” Faith said. “I  _ wish _ .”

“Then what’s she hiding?” Dawn asked.

“I don’t know,” Faith said. “Bet we can find out, though.”

“Really?” Dawn asked.

“Sure,” Faith said. “Let’s follow her.”

As they left the cemetery, Dawn asked, “Do you really wish you could date my sister?”

“We can’t talk if we’re tailing her,” Faith said. “Anyway, I don’t do  _ dating _ . Too much commitment. B’s hot, though.”

They followed Buffy through the streets and into the woods. About halfway down the trail, things started to look familiar, and suddenly Dawn realized what Buffy was hiding, and all of her dreams of being a detective left her. She stopped in her tracks.

“Never mind,” she whispered. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“You good?” Faith asked.

“I just figured it out,” Dawn said. Embarrassingly, she felt herself holding back tears. “Sorry. This is-- I got all captured last year, and it was a whole big thing, and I don’t want to know if Buffy’s back to hiding big stuff.”

“Should I be worried?” Faith asked.

Dawn shook her head.

“I think it’s just me,” she said, sniffling. “Buffy wouldn’t put us in danger.”

“All right,” Faith said, and she put an arm around Dawn’s shoulder. “You going to be all right?”

Dawn nodded. 

“Let’s get you back home, then,” Faith said. “Sound good?”

Dawn nodded again. 

“Can I ask you about your crush on Buffy  _ now _ ?” she asked as they started walking.

“You tell anyone I said that and I’m coming after you with a stake,” Faith said.

Dawn giggled. 

“I won’t tell,” she promised. “I’m good at keeping secrets when I want to.”

“I believe it,” Faith said, ruffling her hair. “And if you tell anyone I just ruffled your hair--”

“You’re coming after me with a stake?” Dawn asked.

“You got it,” Faith said. 

Dawn smiled.

“You know,” she said, “if Buffy liked you back, and then you grew up and got married, it’d be like you were my sister.”

“Don’t make it weird, kid,” Faith said.

They walked back to the house together, and Faith helped Dawn climb through the window. 

“See you,” she whispered, and Dawn waved back before closing the window.

She changed into her pajamas and got into bed, but she didn’t go to sleep right away. She had a  _ lot _ to think about.

**Author's Note:**

> the end of this might be a bit rushed but to be fair the google doc has been open in one of my tabs for MONTHS so. i had to finish it eventually


End file.
